EU Vows to Crack Down on Modern Day ‘Slave Trade’

By Brian Kenety, IPS, 9 February 2001

STOCKHOLM, Feb 9 (IPS)—At this very moment as I open the
press conference—somewhere in Europe—a 15 to 16-year-old
girl is lying in an undercover brothel waiting for the next man,
the Swedish Justice Minister said Friday.

Speaking at the close of an informal two-day meeting of European Union
(EU) justice and home affairs ministers, Thomas Bodstrom, said that
trafficking in human beings, in particular of women and girls for
sexual and economic exploitation, amounted to a modern-day slave
trade.

Sweden, which currently holds the rotating EU Presidency, is seeking a
common strategy to stem the tide of human beings smuggling, which
ministers here have called the fastest-growing sector of criminal
activity in Europe.

In many parts of the world possibilities for legal migration have
decreased whilst demand for foreign labour has remained
constant. This, together with poverty, lack of opportunities,
political and social violence in the countries of origin, may force
potential migrants to turn to criminal networks.

As a consequence, new trafficking routes are regularly established and
the market for fraudulent travel documents, clandestine transportation
and border crossing has developed worldwide.

Some 500,000 women and girls enter the EU every year as illegal
immigrants. Some estimates put the number of people brought into the
EU against their will who become victims of the sex trade or are
forced to work in slave-like conditions in textile sweatshops at
several hundred thousand.

Many are brought in for prostitution by well-organised criminal gangs
or to work under inhuman conditions. By some estimates the trade in
illegal immigrants is worth more than 30 billion dollars a year and
has become a lucrative market for organised crime syndicates.

There is a slave trade going on today in our own countries and in
countries in our vicinity. We cannot shut our eyes to the
reality. This applies in particular to us Ministers for Justice and
Home Affairs, said Bodstrom.

He calls on his fellow ministers to both harmonise legislative
measures and cross-border police co-operation and to earmark more
funding for projects combating the trafficking of women and girls.

In concrete terms this means finding common definitions and fairly
similar sanctions so that those who control trafficking in humans
cannot find ‘free zones’ with unclear legislation, he
said.

Although no formal decisions were taken in Stockholm this week,
ministers agreed Friday on the need to rapidly negotiate improved
legislation against trafficking in human beings, said Bodstrom.

In the lead-up to this week's meeting, British Prime Minister Tony
Blair and his Italian counterpart, Giuliano Amato, announced a package
of measures to disrupt human beings smuggling across the Western
Balkans, through which 60 per cent of trafficked persons coming to the
EU pass, British Home Secretary Jack Straw said Thursday.

As of Thursday, ten countries had agreed to take part in a meeting in
London to discuss the joint UK-Italian measures, which include a
proposal to establish EU teams of police and immigration officers that
would be based in the Western Balkans.

I hope that we can establish links between (these personnel) and
(the European police force) Europol, to form a network of EU
immigration officers and intelligence, said Straw Thursday.

There is already strong co-operation between national and
immigration and police services throughout Europe. But there are over
120 separate police services in Europe. It makes sense to find better
ways of co-operating, said Straw.

EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino said that
the proposals put forward by the European Commission, which were the
starting point for this week's discussions, will be an
important step towards eradicating from Europe the unscrupulous
practices of trafficking in human beings and the sexual exploitation
of children.

Vitorino said Friday there could be no safe haven for
traffickers in any European country and that therefore enhanced police
co-operation was crucial. Equally important, he said, was that
appropriate facilities be made available for the victims of
trafficking—the EU executive Commission would soon draft a
communication calling for women forced into prostitution to be granted
temporary residence permits.

The Commission was looking at greater funding for non- governmental
organisations (NGOs) working in this area in order to raise awareness
of the problem.

Bodstrom noted that EU candidate countries, from where the majority of
trafficked women and girls enter the Union, would be invited to
discuss measures to combat trafficking in human beings at the formal
meeting of justice and home affairs ministers in March.

Migrant trafficking and smuggling has become a global business
generating huge profits for traffickers and organised crime
syndicates. A recent study by the International Organisation for
Migration (IOM) revealed that at any one time there are an estimated
15 to 30 million irregular migrants worldwide.

Because of their clandestine nature, irregular migration and
trafficking are likely to remain significantly underreported crimes,
says the IOM. Reliable statistics are kept on apprehensions of
unauthorised migrants at borders and on arrests of traffickers,
amongst other things, but these figures account for a small fraction
of the overall problem.

Trafficking exposes migrants to exploitation and violation of their
fundamental human rights. Trafficked migrants are often dependent on
their agents and employers, and are therefore extremely
vulnerable, says the IOM. Because they have to pay back a debt
to traffickers, migrants frequently find themselves confined to
sweatshops, factories, or are forced into prostitution or begging,
often controlled by criminal networks.

In addition, migrants who lack valid travel documents are primarily
regarded as irregular migrants, and are therefore subject to
deportation in many countries. Because of their irregular status, they
do not have access to legal assistance and medical care.

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